After meeting constituents in her Hazleton office Friday, state Rep. Tarah Toohil fielded more questions about a controversial YouTube video showing her with what could be marijuana at a pizza party and a photo of her and state Rep. Nick Miccarelli perched on a camel during a trip to Israel partially funded by a Philadelphia Jewish group.
The photo of Ms. Toohil and Mr. Miccarelli briefly received play in a commercial for Butler Twp. Supervisor Ransom Young, the Democratic candidate for Ms. Toohil's 116th Legislative District seat.
"We pulled that right after the horrible, horrible viral video," Mr. Young said, referring to the YouTube video showing photos of Ms. Toohil at the party. "I think at the very max, it ran for one day."
The campaign ad ran on cable and local outlets on Wednesday and questioned the purpose of Ms. Toohil's trip to the Middle East.
"I don't understand why, if she did take this trip and it was lobbyist or some other type funded, why didn't she report it to her constituents?" Mr. Young asked.
Ms. Toohil said the nonprofit Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia paid $2,500 toward the trip. She used personal and campaign money to pay for the the balance of the trip, one that the federation and the nonprofit Pennsylvania Jewish Commission have offered to state lawmakers for at least the past eight years.
"It was an educational trip to the Middle East, to a war-torn country. No taxpayer money whatsoever went into this trip," Ms. Toohil said, calling it a "personal" trip. "And at no point on the trip was I lobbied on any legislation."
The short-lived television ad included the photo of Mr. Miccarelli and Ms. Toohil on the camel. On Friday, Ms. Toohil, 33, would not discuss her relationship with Mr. Miccarelli, a 30-year-old Republican from Delaware County.
Mr. Young said the ad was made after he asked Ms. Toohil to release a copy of her most recent ethics report. He said his report is up to date, and that he has "included ethics reports for 2012 although they're not due until next year.
Ms. Toohil said the $2,500 will be reported as required when she files her ethics report in January.
"I can't report it until January," she explained.
On the trip, Ms. Toohil said she met with members of the Israeli Parliament, visited the Lebanon and Syria border where there were Taliban attacks and met with members of the Israeli Army, she said.
"I was able to learn about this country, which is so vastly different than our own," she said.
She also learned about welfare-to-work programs and immigration issues.
"That's all homeland security and immigration which are huge issues, not just nationally but for us here in the U.S.," she said.
Mr. Young said Friday that he didn't know the origin of the photo of Ms. Toohil and Mr. Miccarelli. He ordered the ad pulled Wednesday, when many media outlets reported on the YouTube video.
"I wanted to rise above that," said Mr. Young, who called the YouTube video "dirty politics."
Ms. Toohil said the party photos used in the video were taken more than 10 years ago, and she is "not that young woman today." One photo shows Ms. Toohil and another woman at a table that holds what appears to be drug paraphernalia.
Ms. Toohil released a statement Wednesday saying she hopes to use the photos to educate children about drugs. On Friday, she touted the work she's done to protect children, including on Megan's Law and issues like bullying, gangs and suicide.
"Overall, I looked at it and thought, 'I'm a role model for these children. I'm a younger person that they relate to,'" she said.
Ms. Toohil also filmed a video responding to the photos and directed at children, and posted it on her website at www.reptoohil.com.
On Friday, she was in her Hazleton office for a day of conference calls and meetings.
"Political people are attacking me personally and so be it. It's wrong, it's negative, it's exactly why people dislike politics," she said. "But I'm going to choose to keep working and stand by my record and not get involved in personal attacks."
Contact the writer: jwhalen@standardspeaker.com